Microsoft just released its bi-annual report on global malware threats and the highest rates of malware attacks were reported from Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Palestine, Bangladesh and Nepal. This puts these countries as the most insecure places for digital gadgets.
The fewest malware threats were reported in Japan, Finland, Norway and Sweden based on the data from Microsoft’s anti-malware software. They saw cybercriminal attacks within a range of 7.81 to 13.51 computers (per 100). Microsoft Manager, Alex Weinert, said “We look at north of 10 million attacks on identities every day,” however, not all of the attacks succeed. About half of the attacks worldwide originate from Asia, while the rest come Latin America.
Not only do Pakistan and India share borders with each other, both of these countries are prime targets of malware attacks. The report reveals a trend of increasing number of malware attacks in some countries.
India and Pakistan are prime targets of malware attacks
During the third and fourth quarters of 2015, Microsoft analysed malware data and vulnerabilities from over 600 million computers across the globe. Worldwide Encounter rates were 17.8% computers and 20.8% computers in the third and fourth quarters of 2015. Meanwhile, Pakistan reportedly had 49.9% malware encounters during Q3 2015 which increased to 63.0% in Q4. Similarly, India was reported to have 36.5% and 44.2% malware encounters in Q3 and Q4 of 2015.
As far as Infection Rate is concerned, globally it stood at 8.0 CCM and 27.1 CCM in Q3 and Q4 2015 respectively. Pakistan was reported with 46.9 CCM and 71.3 CCM in the third and fourth quarters respectively. India witnessed 25.9 CCM and 53.9 CCM in both quarters. CCM stands of Computers Cleaned per Mile, which means number of computers cleaned for every 1,000 executions of the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT). The higher it is, the more malware prone the computers.
The report also gave some details regarding a hacking group called Platinum, which has been active since 2009. It targets governments and related organisations in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The group develops custom-made malware and uses it during working hours to steal information while remaining inactive the rest of the time. The group has been actively attacking India and Indonesia over the past year.
Microsoft research suggests Pakistan has one of the highest malware prone PC rates in the region
Pakistan, Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Palestinian Authority and India were the most active areas with respect to malware encounters. Mongolia, Libya, Palestinian Authority, Iraq, and Pakistan had the highest infection rates on the world. For more information read the report available here.
The news is alarming and we would like to ask our users to be more careful when using their devices, whether its computers, laptops, smartphones or any other gadget. Malware is a big risk and not only can they steal your information, such attacks can damage you data and devices too.
